THE Adelaide Thunderbirds road to redemption has reached its destination.
The Thunderbirds made amends for last season’s heartbreaking Semi-Finals exit in today’s ANZ Championship Grand Final in front of a packed Adelaide Entertainment Centre, claiming their second title with a 50-48 win over the Mission Queensland Firebirds.
All season the Thunderbirds have been driven towards one common goal – a pact they set following last year’s heartbreaking one-goal loss to the Kia Magic in New Zealand.
Along they to the title the Thunderbirds dropped just one game for the season and begin 2014 on the back of a 13-game winning streak.
Thunderbirds coach Jane Woodlands-Thompson said she was overwhelmed with joy at the final whistle.
“I’m just so proud of the culture we’ve created and the athletes we’ve managed to attract and keep in our program,” a delighted Woodlands-Thompson said at the post Grand Final press conference.
“Tonight’s just a result of the culmination of a lot of hard work from a lot of people.”
Early on it was a struggle for the Thunderbirds as the Firebirds got away to a four-goal lead in the second term with Romelda Aiken in ominous form and giving Sharni Layton a few headaches.
But Woodlands-Thompson knew her team would turn it around.
“We’ve done it all year,” Woodlands-Thompson said.
“It certainly wasn’t easy. They played a very good game. It’s so easy for them to bang into Romelda to score so it just felt like we had to toil and work so hard to get a goal for us.
“Yet one mistake and it was `bang’, a goal in three seconds at times for them.
“So that’s testament to the girls to work through that and not let that psychologically hold us back or stop believing in what we were going to do.”
Aiken’s 39 goals saw her season tally rise to 667, one better than the record total compatriot Jhaniele Fowler shot in the regular season.
Aiken played three extra games.
Aiken also played a major role in the Firebirds last quarter fightback, where they came from six goals down to get within one in the final minute of the match.
Thunderbirds captain Natalie von Bertouch said she had a few anxious moments in the final term.
“When we’re under pressure like that, that’s when we perform our best,” von Bertouch said.
“Yes we let them get back in but when we get to that spot I know we, as a team, knuckle down even harder and have more confidence in the team.
“We like to make it a really tight finish. They’re a fantastic team and they can score so quickly so as soon as they started coming back we did feel that pressure.
“But we stood up to it.”
Woodlands-Thompson had high praise for the games of Layton and Rebecca Bulley, who held Firebirds star goal attack Natalie Medhurst.
“I thought Bec Bulley’s shutdown job on Medhurst was simply outstanding,” Woodlands-Thompson said.
“It was like they were playing with three wing attacks today and when they concentrate their shooting just through one (player) that changes the dynamics a little bit.
“Sharni Layton’s jump can almost get up as high as Romelda at full stretch and I thought Layton did everything she could today. It was just hard work and a very tiring game for her to have to keep jumping.”
Woodlands-Thompson now faces some tough decisions over the make-up of her 2014 list.
“Most teams operate on seven month contracts and I think we are one of the only teams to do multi-year contracts,” she said.
“A lot of those are up and after a premiership the offers come thick and fast so I’m sure all of our key players will get offers, possibly financially better than what we can do.
“With a premiership team that salary cap is divided a little more so it’s very hard to build a culture and it’s something very special when a team can stay together and I don’t want to lose anyone.”
